Quote:
Originally Posted by itimpi
My ebook collection is about 20GB and growing - I would not be happy with this much data in a database. Also backup becomes horrendous as this is now an amorphous blob that needs backing up in its entirety. Under the current system I can do differential file copies that means in most cases very few files need copying as part of a backup process.
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Well, whether it's in a DB or in files it's still gonna be 20gb. There are plenty of DB backup tools that support fine-grained backups -- even more fine-grained than what file-based systems offer.
OTH there's a reason why DB Admin is separate IT specialty -- DBs are hard to maintain and administer. Also I would guess that Sqlite would not scale well. The problem is though, that Calibre functions as the server-side of a client/server system in which our kindles, nooks, iphones, etc are the client side. But the average Calibre user's PC is really a client; and the users are not well-equipped to deal with server-like issues.
However, I have read in several threads here where performance of Calibre for some is an issue. As usage of the product grows, and our eBook libraries also grow (remember it's still early days yet), I wonder what kinds of issues of scale are going to pop up down the road; and whether attention to server-like admin issues is going to be necessary.
As an example of the kinds of issues I'm talking about, I just got finished reading a very long thread here about the catalog feature. There seemed to be an awful lot of issues with the state of individual users' metadata as to whether a catalog could be successfully created. As long as users can muck about with the metadata (as they should), there is always going to be a certain amount of fragility/instability/complexity connected to the product. As Calibre becomes more successful, there are going to be more and more non-technical users which will only make things worse.
The SQL DB idea was only a suggestion that might partially address the problem, but God knows I'm certainly aware of the complexities involved. I'm just raising an issue, but I don't really have any good answers. I just wonder if it weould be possible to make things more bullet-proof. It's late, I'm tired, and I'm not sure I'm making myself clear -- I'm going to go to sleep now...zzz